U.S. patent application number 15/944469 was filed with the patent office on 2018-08-09 for devices, methods, and computer-readable media for redemption header for merchant offers.
The applicant listed for this patent is RetailMeNot, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jagjit Singh Bath, Michael Paul Cravey, Nicholas James Shiffert.
Application Number | 20180225694 15/944469 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49716028 |
Filed Date | 2018-08-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180225694 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shiffert; Nicholas James ;
et al. |
August 9, 2018 |
DEVICES, METHODS, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR REDEMPTION HEADER
FOR MERCHANT OFFERS
Abstract
Devices, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable
media for a redemption header for merchant offers, such as online
coupons, are provided. In some embodiments, an offers website may
provide offers, such as online coupons, in a browser executing on a
user device. When a user selects an online coupon, the browser is
redirected to a merchant website associated with the online coupon
and a coupon code value is copied to a clipboard. Additionally, a
redemption header having the coupon code and instructions is added
in the merchant webpage. A webpage element for the redemption
header, such as an inline frame, is created in the merchant webpage
and the redemption header is provided based on an offer identifier
stored in a browser-accessible storage item such as a cookie.
Inventors: |
Shiffert; Nicholas James;
(Austin, TX) ; Cravey; Michael Paul; (Austin,
TX) ; Bath; Jagjit Singh; (Austin, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
RetailMeNot, Inc. |
Austin |
TX |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
49716028 |
Appl. No.: |
15/944469 |
Filed: |
April 3, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15853016 |
Dec 22, 2017 |
9965769 |
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15944469 |
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15471682 |
Mar 28, 2017 |
9953335 |
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15853016 |
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13837790 |
Mar 15, 2013 |
9639853 |
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15471682 |
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61707527 |
Sep 28, 2012 |
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61665740 |
Jun 28, 2012 |
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61658408 |
Jun 12, 2012 |
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61658404 |
Jun 11, 2012 |
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61658387 |
Jun 11, 2012 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0256 20130101;
G06Q 30/0239 20130101; G06Q 30/0222 20130101; G06Q 30/0269
20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0225 20130101; G06Q 30/0255
20130101; G06Q 30/0242 20130101; H04L 67/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0267
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20060101
G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium storing
instructions that when executed by one or more processors
effectuate operations comprising: sending, with one or more
processors, via a network, from a first domain, at least part of a
first webpage to a web browser executing on a user computing
device, wherein sending the at least part of the first webpage
comprises: causing the web browser to obtain and display a
plurality of content items in the first webpage, each of the
content items being associated in the web browser with a
content-item identifier that distinguishes the content items from
one another; sending, with one or more processors, via the network,
from the first domain, instructions that cause the web browser to
store in client-side browser-accessible storage a given
content-item identifier associated with a given content item
selected by a user in the first webpage, the storing being executed
in response to receiving the selection of the given content item in
the first webpage by the user; and after sending the at least part
of the first webpage, and after the selection of the given content
item is received, coordinating, with one or more processors,
consistent content across domains after the web browser navigates
to a second webpage from a second domain different from the first
domain, wherein consistent content across domains is coordinated
by: communicating the selection of the given content item by the
user across domains via the client-side browser-accessible storage,
from content associated with the first domain to content associated
with the second domain, by accessing the client-side
browser-accessible storage after the web browser has navigated to
the second web page; and causing the web browser to display the
second webpage concurrently with displaying information related to
the given content item in response to the selection of the given
content item being communicated across domains.
2. The medium of claim 1, wherein: sending at least part of the
first webpage comprises sending a plurality of online coupons for
display in the first webpage describing offers redeemable at a
plurality of different merchant websites, the online coupons being
sent from an offers engine after identifying the sent coupons from
a collection of offers more than 10,000 offers hosted by the offers
engine; sending instructions that cause the web browser to store
the given content-item identifier in client-side browser-accessible
storage comprises sending web-browser-executable code of one or
more event handlers associated with selection events indicative of
user selection of document-object model elements of the first
webpage including the online coupons; the information related to
the given content item or the second webpage is displayed in an
iframe; and coordinating consistent content comprises: in response
to receiving the selection of the given content item, instructing
the web browser to send a request to an affiliate network server,
wherein the request identifies a merchant at which an online coupon
described by the given content item is redeemable to the affiliate
network server and causes the affiliate network server to send the
web browser a redirect command that causes the web browser to
request the second webpage from a merchant website of the merchant
at which the online coupon described by the given content item is
redeemable; instructing the web browser to display a traveling
header containing a visible reference to a coupon code of the
online coupon in the given content item selected by the user,
wherein the web browser is instructed to display the traveling
header concurrently with displaying the second webpage; and
instructing the web browser to continue to display the traveling
header concurrently with displaying a third webpage from the second
domain after the user navigates the web browser from the second
webpage to the third webpage.
3. The medium of claim 1, wherein: causing the web browser to
display the second webpage concurrently with displaying information
related to the given content item comprises, after storing the
given content-item identifier in the client-side browser-accessible
storage, and after the web browser is navigated away from the first
domain and to the second domain: receiving a request, from the web
browser, at the first domain for browser executable code, the
request being included in the second webpage from the second domain
and being sent by the web browser upon rendering the second
webpage; and in response to the request, sending browser executable
code configured to access the client-side browser-accessible
storage.
4. The medium of claim 3, wherein sending browser executable code
comprises sending browser executable code configured to: compare
the second domain to a domain corresponding to the given
content-item identifier associated with the given content item
selected by the user in the first webpage; and in response to the
comparison, determining to display in the web browser the
information related to the given content item.
5. The medium of claim 4, wherein: comparing the second domain to
the domain corresponding to the given content-item identifier
comprises determining that the second domain is a domain of a
merchant website at which an offer depicted by the given content
item is redeemable.
6. The medium of claim 1, wherein: the client-side
browser-accessible storage item includes a cookie, a SQLite
database, or a local Storage object of the web browser, wherein the
web browser does not permit cross-domain access to the client-side
browser-accessible storage item.
7. The medium of claim 1, wherein: the client-side
browser-accessible storage item is a session cookie that expires
when the browser is shut down.
8. The medium of claim 1, wherein causing the web browser to
display information related to the given content item in response
to the selection of the given content item in the first webpage by
the user comprises: sending browser-executable instructions
configured to receive a user selection of an input corresponding to
a coupon code in the displayed information related to the given
content item and, in response, write the coupon code to clipboard
memory of the user computing device.
9. The medium of claim 1, wherein causing the web browser to
display the second webpage concurrently with displaying information
related to the given content item comprises: inserting
browser-executable code of a redemption header in a merchant
webpage after the merchant webpage is provided to the web browser,
wherein the merchant webpage is the second webpage.
10. The medium of claim 9, wherein: the browser-executable code is
configured to, upon execution by the web browser, add a webpage
element to a document object model of the merchant webpage.
11. The medium of claim 9, wherein: the browser-executable code is
configured to, upon execution by the web browser, access the given
content-item identifier associated with a given content item
selected by a user in the client-side browser-accessible storage;
send, via the network, a request for content to the first domain,
the request for content including the accessed given content-item
identifier; receiving, via the network, the requested content; and
causing the web browser to display the second webpage concurrently
with the received requested content.
12. The medium of claim 1, wherein: sending the at least part of
the first webpage comprises steps for obtaining and processing data
related to offers.
13. The medium of claim 1, wherein: sending the at least part of
the first webpage comprises steps for obtaining and presenting to
users data related to offers.
14. The medium of claim 1, the operations comprising: steps for
providing a redemption header.
15. The medium of claim 1, wherein: the given content item is a
coupon having a coupon code; the second webpage is a webpage of a
merchant at which the coupon is redeemable by supplying the coupon
code; and the operations comprise providing the coupon code in the
information related to the given content item.
16. The medium of claim 15, wherein the operations comprise:
sending the webpage of the merchant, the webpage of the merchant
being a checkout webpage in which the user is presented with inputs
by which the coupon code may be entered; receiving the coupon code
via the checkout webpage and, in response, applying the coupon to
one or more goods or services purchased from the merchant; and
providing the goods or services in accordance with the terms of the
coupon.
17. The medium of claim 1, the operations comprising, sending, from
the first domain, to the web browser, browser-executable code
configured to: cause the web browser to display the second webpage
concurrently with displaying information related to the given
content item.
18. The medium of claim 17, wherein: sending the browser-executable
code comprises sending browser executable code configured to auto
populate an input in the second webpage, the auto populated input
being populated based on the selection of the given content
item.
19. The medium of claim 18, wherein: auto populating comprises
steps for auto populating a coupon code in a checkout webpage.
20. A method, comprising: sending, with one or more processors, via
a network, from a first domain, at least part of a first webpage to
a web browser executing on a user computing device, wherein sending
the at least part of the first webpage comprises: causing the web
browser to obtain and display a plurality of content items in the
first webpage, each of the content items being associated in the
web browser with a content-item identifier that distinguishes the
content items from one another; sending, with one or more
processors, via the network, from the first domain, instructions
that cause the web browser to store in client-side
browser-accessible storage a given content-item identifier
associated with a given content item selected by a user in the
first webpage, the storing being executed in response to receiving
the selection of the given content item in the first webpage by the
user; and after sending the at least part of the first webpage, and
after the selection of the given content item is received,
coordinating, with one or more processors, consistent content
across domains after the web browser navigates to a second webpage
from a second domain different from the first domain, wherein
consistent content across domains is coordinated by: communicating
the selection of the given content item by the user across domains
via the client-side browser-accessible storage, from content
associated with the first domain to content associated with the
second domain, by accessing the client-side browser-accessible
storage after the web browser has navigated to the second web page;
and causing the web browser to display the second webpage
concurrently with displaying information related to the given
content item in response to the selection of the given content item
being communicated across domains.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 15/853,016 filed on Dec. 22, 2017, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/471,682 filed
on Mar. 28, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/837,790 filed on Mar. 15, 2013, now U.S.
Pat. No. 9,639,853, which claims the benefit of each of the
following pending U.S. provisional patent applications: provisional
application 61/707,527, filed Sep. 28, 2012; provisional
application 61/665,740, filed Jun. 28, 2012; provisional
application 61/658,408, filed Jun. 12, 2012; provisional
application 61/658,404, filed Jun. 11, 2012; and provisional
application 61/658,387, filed Jun. 11, 2012. Each aforementioned
patent filing is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to merchant offers for
goods and service and, more particularly, to redemption of certain
offers such as online coupons.
2. Description of the Related Art
[0003] Offer-discovery systems provide a service by which merchants
inform customers of offers, for example deals (e.g., discounts,
favorable shipping terms, or rebates) or coupons (e.g., printable
coupons for in-store use or coupon codes for use online).
Typically, the systems store information about offers from a
relatively large number of merchants and provide an interface by
which customers can identify offers in which the customer is likely
to be interested. Merchants have found the offer-discovery systems
to be a relatively effective form of marketing, as cost-sensitive
consumers are drawn to such systems due to their relatively
comprehensive listings of offers. Such offers may include coupons,
such as include traditional in-store coupons, and online coupons
typically obtained via the Internet, such as from merchant
websites, e-mail distributions, etc. To use an online coupon, a
customer typically provides an identifier, such as a coupon code,
when purchasing goods and services from a merchant's online store.
However, a customer may forget about the existence of the coupon
and, as a result, fail to take advantage of the offer presented by
the coupon. Additionally, it may be challenging for a customer to
remember the identifier presented by the coupon and to use the
online coupon in the manner specified by the online store. And, the
advent of smaller computing devices having different or limited
interfaces may increase the challenges faces by customers
attempting to use online coupons.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Various embodiments of devices, computer-implemented
methods, and computer-readable media for a redemption header for
merchant offers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method
is provided that includes providing (e.g., obtaining and rendering)
in a browser executing on a user device an offers webpage from an
offers engine, the offers webpage having: a plurality of offers
associated with a respective plurality of merchants and a
respective plurality of offer redemption identifiers. The method
also includes receiving a selection of one of the plurality of
offers, the selected offer associated with a selected offer
redemption identifier and a selected merchant. The method further
includes redirecting the browser to a merchant webpage of the
selected merchant. Additionally, the method includes determining,
with one or more processors, whether an offer identifier associated
with the selected offer is stored in a storage item accessible by
the browser. The method further includes inserting, if (e.g., if
and only if) the offer identifier is stored in the storage item, a
redemption header in a webpage element of the merchant webpage, the
redemption header including the offer identifier associated with
the selected offer and the redemption header being displayed on the
merchant webpage. The method further includes providing, if the
offer identifier is not stored in the storage item, an empty
webpage element of the merchant webpage.
[0005] Additionally, in some embodiments, a non-transitory
computer-readable medium having executable computer code stored
thereon is provided. The executable computer code includes
instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to
effectuate operations including the following: providing in a
browser executing on a user device an offers webpage from an offers
engine, the offers webpage having a plurality of offers associated
with a respective plurality of merchants and a respective plurality
of offer redemption identifiers and receiving a selection of one of
the plurality of offers, the selected offer associated with a
selected offer redemption identifier and a selected merchant.
Additionally, the executable computer code includes instructions
that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform the
following: redirecting the browser to a merchant webpage of the
selected merchant. The executable computer code further includes
instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to
perform the following: determining, by one or more processors,
whether an offer identifier associated with the selected offer is
stored in a storage item accessible by the browser. The executable
computer code further includes instructions that, when executed,
cause one or more processors to perform the following: inserting,
if the offer identifier is stored in the storage item, a redemption
header in a webpage element of the merchant webpage, the redemption
header including the offer redemption identifier associated with
the selected offer and the redemption header being displayed on the
merchant webpage. The executable computer code further includes
instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to
perform the following: providing, if the offer identifier is not
stored in the storage item, an empty webpage element of the
merchant webpage.
[0006] Further, in some embodiments, a system is provided that
includes one or more processors and a non-transitory tangible
computer-readable memory communicatively coupled to the processor.
The non-transitory tangible computer-readable memory includes
executable computer code stored thereon. The executable computer
code includes instructions that, when executed, cause one or more
processors to perform the following: providing in a browser
executing on a user device an offers webpage from an offers engine,
the offers webpage comprising a plurality of offers associated with
a respective plurality of merchants and a respective plurality of
offer redemption identifiers and receiving a selection of one of
the plurality of offers, the selected offer associated with a
selected offer redemption identifier and a selected merchant.
Additionally, the executable computer code includes instructions
that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform the
following: redirecting the browser to a merchant webpage of the
selected merchant. The executable computer code further includes
instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to
perform the following: determining, by one or more processors,
whether an offer identifier associated with the selected offer is
stored in a storage item accessible by the browser. The executable
computer code further includes instructions that, when executed,
cause one or more processors to perform the following: inserting,
if the offer identifier is stored in the storage item, a redemption
header in a webpage element of the merchant webpage, the redemption
header including the offer redemption identifier associated with
the selected offer and the redemption header being displayed on the
merchant webpage. The executable computer code further includes
instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to
perform the following: providing, if the offer identifier is not
stored in the storage item, an empty webpage element of the
merchant webpage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example of an
offer-discovery system in accordance with some embodiments;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a block diagram an example of a process by which
an offers engine in the offer-discovery system of FIG. 1, in some
embodiments, obtains and processes data related to offers;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a block diagram an example of a process by which a
user device in the offer-discovery system of FIG. 1, in some
embodiments, obtains and presents to users data related to
offers;
[0010] FIGS. 4A-4F are schematic diagrams illustrating screens of a
user device executing a browser in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating user actions and a
redemption header process in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0012] FIGS. 6A and 6B are block diagrams are block diagrams for
providing a redemption header in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention; and
[0013] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computer in accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0014] Although the invention is susceptible to various
modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof
are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be
described in detail. The drawings may not be to scale. It should be
understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description
thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular
form disclosed, but to the contrary, the intention is to cover all
modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the
spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the
appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] The above-mentioned deficiencies in existing offer-discovery
systems may be mitigated by certain embodiments of an
offer-discovery system 10 illustrated by FIG. 1. The exemplary
system 10 includes an offers engine 12 that, in some embodiments,
is capable of reducing the burden on users attempting to identify
offers relevant to them from among a relatively large pool of
offers (e.g., more than 100, more than 1,000, or more than 10,000)
and redeem selected offers. The system 10 provides instructions to
user devices that, when executed by the user devices, implement an
offer redemption user interface described below with reference to
FIGS. 4-6. This interface, in some cases, assets the user with
recall and entry of a coupon code or other offer-related data at a
merchant's website. This interface and the associated instructions
are described in greater detail below, following a description of
other aspects of the system 10, which provides complimentary, but
independent benefits to those of the interfaces of FIGS. 4-6.
[0016] In some embodiments, the offers engine 12 maintains
device-independent user profiles (or portions of user profiles) by
which offers interfaces may be relatively consistently configured
across multiple user devices with which the user interacts with the
offers engine 12. Further, the offers engine 12, in some
embodiments, includes a number of features expected to facilitate
relatively quick identification of relevant offers by a user,
features that include cached storage of data related to likely
relevant offers, faceted presentation of offers by which users can
select among offers within various categories, and a number of
other techniques described below for assisting with offer
identification. The offers engine 12 is also expected to facilitate
relatively low operating costs by, in some embodiments, automating
parts of the process by which offer related data is acquired from
sources, such as affiliate networks merchants, administrators, or
users, and automating parts of the process by which transaction
data indicative of acceptance, settlement, or clearing of offers is
obtained and processed.
[0017] These and other benefits are described in greater detail
below, after introducing the components of the system 10 and
describing their operation. It should be noted, however, that not
all embodiments necessarily provide all of the benefits outlined
herein, and some embodiments may provide all or a subset of these
benefits or different benefits, as various engineering and cost
tradeoffs are envisioned.
[0018] In the illustrated embodiment, the offers engine 12 includes
a control module 14, an application program interface (API) server
16, a web server 18, an ingest module 20, an administration module
22, a data store 24, and a cache server 23. These components, in
some embodiments, communicate with one another in order to provide
the functionality of the offers engine 12 described herein. As
described in greater detail below, in some embodiments, the data
store 24 may store data about offers and users' interactions with
those offers; the cache server 23 may expedite access to this data
by storing likely relevant data in relatively high-speed memory,
for example, in random-access memory or a solid-state drive; the
web server 20 may serve webpages having offers interfaces by which
users discover relevant offers; the API server 16 may serve data to
various applications that process data related to offers; the
ingest module 20 may facilitate the intake of data related to
offers from affiliate networks, users, administrators, and
merchants; and the administration module 22 may facilitate curation
of offers presented by the API server 16 and the web server 18. The
operation of these components 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, and 23 may be
coordinated by the control module 14, which may bidirectionally
communicate with each of these components or direct the components
to communicate with one another. Communication may occur by
transmitting data between separate computing devices (e.g., via
transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP)
communication over a network), by transmitting data between
separate applications or processes on one computing device; or by
passing values to and from functions, modules, or objects within an
application or process, e.g., by reference or by value.
[0019] Among other operations, the offers engine 12 of this
embodiment presents offers to users; receives data from users about
their interaction with the offers (for example, the user's favorite
offers or offer attributes; statistics about the offers the user
has identified, accepted, or otherwise provided data about; or the
identity of other users with whom the user communicates about
offers and the content of those communications; provided that users
opt to have such data obtained); customizes the presentation of
offers based on this received data; and facilitates the processing
of compensation from merchants (either directly or through
affiliate networks) as a result of users accepting (or taking a
specific action, like clicking or viewing, in some embodiments or
use cases) offers. This interaction with users may occur via a
website viewed on a desktop computer, tablet, or a laptop of the
user. And in some cases, such interaction occurs via a mobile
website viewed on a smart phone, tablet, or other mobile user
device, or via a special-purpose native application executing on a
smart phone, tablet, or other mobile user device. Presenting and
facilitating interaction with offers across a variety of devices is
expected to make it easier for users to identify and recall
relevant offers at the time the user is interested in those offers,
which is often different from the time at which the user first
discovers the offers. In particular, some embodiments allow users
to store data indicative of offers relevant to that user using one
device, such as a desktop computer in the user's home, and then
view those offers at a later time, such as on a native mobile
application when in a retail store.
[0020] To illustrate an example of the environment in which the
offers engine 12 operates, the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1
includes a number of components with which the offers engine 12
communicates: mobile user devices 28 and 30; a desk-top user device
32; a third party server 34; an administrator device 36; merchant
servers 38, 40, and 42; and affiliate-network servers 44 and 46.
Each of these devices communicates with the offers engine 12 via a
network 48, such as the Internet or the Internet in combination
with various other networks, like local area networks, cellular
networks, or personal area networks.
[0021] The mobile user devices 28 and 30 may be smart phones,
tablets, gaming devices, or other hand-held networked computing
devices having a display, a user input device (e.g., buttons, keys,
voice recognition, or a single or multi-touch touchscreen), memory
(such as a tangible, machine-readable, non-transitory memory), a
network interface, a portable energy source (e.g., a battery), and
a processor (a term which, as used herein, includes one or more
processors) coupled to each of these components. The memory of the
mobile user devices 28 and 30 may store instructions that when
executed by the associated processor provide an operating system
and various applications, including a web browser 50 or a native
mobile application 52. The native application 52, in some
embodiments, is operative to provide an offers interface that
communicates with the offers engine 12 and facilitates user
interaction with data from the offers engine 12. Similarly, the web
browser 50 may be configured to receive a website from the offers
engine 12 having data related to deals and instructions (for
example, instructions expressed in JavaScript.TM.) that when
executed by the browser (which is executed by the processor) cause
the mobile user device to communicate with the offers engine 12 and
facilitate user interaction with data from the offers engine 12.
The native application 52 and the web browser 50, upon rendering a
webpage from the offers engine 12, may generally be referred to as
client applications of the offers engine 12, which in some
embodiments may be referred to as a server. Embodiments, however,
are not limited to client/server architectures, and the offers
engine 12, as illustrated, may include a variety of components
other than those functioning primarily as a server.
[0022] The desk-top user device 32 may also include a web browser
54 that serves the same or similar role as the web browser 50 in
the mobile user device 30. In addition, the desk-top user device 32
may include a monitor; a keyboard; a mouse; memory; a processor;
and a tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable memory storing
instructions that when executed by the processor provide an
operating system and the web browser.
[0023] Third-party offer server 34 may be configured to embed data
from the offers engine 12 in websites or other services provided by
the third-party offer server 34. For example, third-party offer
server 34 may be a server of a social networking service upon which
users post comments or statistics about offers with which the user
has interacted, or the users may use the offer server 34 to
recommend offers to others or identify offers to avoid. In another
example, third-party offer server 34 may include various services
for publishing content to the Web, such as blogs, tweets, likes,
dislikes, ratings, and the like. In another example, third-party
offer server 34 provides services by which third-parties curate
offers hosted by the offers engine 12.
[0024] Merchant servers 38, 40, and 42 host websites or other user
accessible content interfaces by which users can accept offers
hosted by the offers engine 12. In some embodiments, and in some
use cases, the merchant servers 38, 40, and 42 host retail websites
that present a plurality of items for sale by the merchant, a
subset of which may include items to which offers apply, thereby
generally making the item for sale more desirable to cost-sensitive
consumers than under the terms presented by the merchant in the
absence of the offer. For example, the offers may include free or
discounted shipping, a discounted price, a bulk discount, a rebate,
a referral award, or a coupon, such as a coupon acceptable by
presenting a coupon code during checkout on the merchant website,
or a printable or displayable coupon (e.g., on the screen of a
mobile device) for in-store use, the printable or otherwise
displayable coupon having, in some cases, a machine readable code
(e.g., a bar code or QR code for display and scanning, or a code
passed via near-field communication or Bluetooth.TM.). In some
embodiments, the merchant website includes a checkout webpage
having an interface for the user to enter payment information and a
coupon code, and the merchant website (either with logic on the
client side or the server-side) may validate the coupon code
entered by the user and, upon determining that the coupon code is
valid, adjust the terms presented to the user for acceptance in
accordance with the offer.
[0025] Some merchants may limit the number of uses of a given
coupon, limit the duration over which the coupon is valid, or apply
other conditions to use of the coupon, each of which may add to the
burden faced by users seeking to find valid coupons applicable to
an item the user wishes to purchase. As noted above, some
embodiments of the offers engine 12 are expected to mitigate this
burden.
[0026] Further, in some embodiments, the merchant servers 38, 40,
and 42 provide data about offers to the offers engine 12 or (i.e.,
and/or, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated) data about
transactions involving offers. In use cases in which the operator
of the offers engine 12 has a direct affiliate-marketing
relationship with one of the merchants of the merchant servers 38,
40, or 42, the transaction data may provide the basis for payments
by the merchant directly to the operator of the offers engine 12.
For example, payments may be based on a percentage of transactions
to which offers were applied, a number of sales to which offers
were applied, or a number of users who viewed or selected or
otherwise interacted with an offer by the merchant.
[0027] Affiliate-network servers 44 and 46, in some embodiments and
some use cases, are engaged when the entity operating the offers
engine 12 does not have a direct affiliate-marketing relationship
with the merchant making a given offer. In many affiliate marketing
programs, merchants compensate outside entities, such as
third-party publishers, for certain activities related to sales by
that merchant and spurred by the outside entity. For example, in
some affiliate marketing programs, merchants compensate an
affiliate, such as the entity operating the offers engine 12, in
cases in which it can be shown that the affiliate provided a given
coupon code to a given user who then used that coupon code in a
transaction with the merchant. Demonstrating this connection to the
merchant is one of the functions of the affiliate-networks.
[0028] Affiliate-networks are used, in some use cases, because many
coupon codes are not affiliate specific and are shared across
multiple affiliates, as the merchant often desires the widest
distribution of a relatively easily remembered coupon code.
Accordingly, in some use cases, the merchant, affiliate network,
and affiliate cooperate to use client-side storage to indicate the
identity of the affiliate that provided a given coupon code to a
user. To this end, in some embodiments, when a webpage offers
interface is presented by the offers engine 12 in the web browsers
50 or 54, that webpage is configured by the offers engine 12 to
include instructions to engage the affiliate network server 44 or
46 when a user selects an offer, for example, by clicking on,
touching, or otherwise registering a selection of an offer. The
website provided by the offers engine 12 responds to such a
selection by, in some embodiments, transmitting a request to the
appropriate affiliate-network server 44 or 46 (as identified by,
for example, an associated uniform resource locator (URL) in the
webpage) for a webpage or portion of a webpage (e.g.,
browser-executable content). The request to the affiliate-network
server may include (e.g., as parameters of the URL) an identifier
of the affiliate, the offer, and the merchant, and the returned
content from the affiliate-network server may include instructions
for the web browser 50 or 54 to store in memory (e.g., in a cookie,
or other form of browser-accessible memory, such as a SQLite
database or in a localStorage object via a localStorage.setItem
command) an identifier of the affiliate that provided the offer
that was selected.
[0029] The webpage from the offers engine 12 (or the content
returned by the affiliate network server 44 or 46) may further
include browser instructions to navigate to the website served by
the merchant server 38, 40, or 42 of the merchant associated with
the offer selected by the user, and in some cases to the webpage of
the item or service associated with the offer selected by the user.
When a user applies the offer, for example by purchasing the item
or service or purchasing the item or service with the coupon code,
the merchant server 38, 40, or 42 may transmit to the user device
upon which the item was purchased browser instructions to request
content from the affiliate network server 44 or 46, and this
requested content may retrieve from the client-side memory the
identifier of the affiliate, such as the operator of the offers
engine 12, who provided the information about the offer to the
user. The affiliate network may then report to the merchant the
identity of the affiliate who should be credited with the
transaction, and the merchant may compensate the affiliate (or the
affiliate network may bill the merchant, and the affiliate network
may compensate the affiliate), such as the operator of the offers
engine 12. Thus, the affiliate network in this example acts as an
intermediary, potentially avoiding the need for cross-domain access
to browser memory on the client device, a feature which is
generally not supported by web browsers for security reasons. (Some
embodiments may, however, store in client-side browser-accessible
memory an identifier of the affiliate upon user selection of the
offer, with this value designated as being accessible via the
merchant's domain, and provide the value to the merchant upon a
merchant request following acceptance of the offer, without passing
the identifier through an affiliate network, using a browser
plug-in for providing cross-domain access to browser memory or a
browser otherwise configured to provide such access.)
[0030] A similar mechanism may be used by the native application 52
for obtaining compensation from merchants. In some embodiments, the
native application 52 includes or is capable of instantiating a web
browser, like the web browser 50, in response to a user selecting
an offer presented by the native application 52. The web browser
instantiated by the native application 52 may be initialized by
submitting the above-mentioned request for content to the
affiliate-network server 44 or 46, thereby storing an identifier of
the affiliate (i.e., the entity operating the offers engine 12 in
this example) in client-side storage (e.g., in a cookie,
localStorage object, or a database) of the mobile user device 28,
and thereby navigating that browser to the merchant website. In
other use cases, the operator of the offers engine 12 has a direct
relationship with the merchant issuing the offer, and the selection
of an offer within the native application 52 or the desktop or
mobile website of the offers engine 12 (generally referred to
herein as examples of an offer interface) may cause the user device
to request a website from the associated merchant with an
identifier of the affiliate included in the request, for example as
a parameter of a URL transmitted in a GET request to the merchant
server 38, 40, or 42 for the merchant's website.
[0031] Administrator device 36 may be a special-purpose application
or a web-based application operable to administer operation of the
offers engine 12, e.g., during use by employees or agents of the
entity operating the offers engine 12. In some embodiments, the
administration module 22 may communicate with the administrator
device 36 to present an administration interface at the
administrator device 36 by which an administrator may configure
offers interfaces presented to users by the offers engine 12. In
some embodiments, the administrator may enter offers into the
offers engine 12; delete offers from the offers engine 12; identify
offers for prominent placement within the offers interface (e.g.,
for initial presentation prior to user interaction); moderate
comments on offers; view statistics on offers, merchants, or users;
add content to enhance the presentation of offers; or categorize
offers.
[0032] Thus, the offers engine 12, in some embodiments, operates in
the illustrated environment by communicating with a number of
different devices and transmitting instructions to various devices
to communicate with one another. The number of illustrated merchant
servers, affiliate network servers, third-party servers, user
devices, and administrator devices is selected for explanatory
purposes only, and embodiments are not limited to the specific
number of any such devices illustrated by FIG. 1.
[0033] The offers engine 12 of some embodiments includes a number
of components introduced above that facilitate the discovery of
offers by users. For example, the illustrated API server 16 may be
configured to communicate data about offers via an offers protocol,
such as a representational-state-transfer (REST)-based API protocol
over hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Examples of services that
may be exposed by the API server 18 include requests to modify,
add, or retrieve portions or all of user profiles, offers, or
comments about offers. API requests may identify which data is to
be modified, added, or retrieved by specifying criteria for
identifying records, such as queries for retrieving or processing
information about particular categories of offers, offers from
particular merchants, or data about particular users. In some
embodiments, the API server 16 communicates with the native
application 52 of the mobile user device 28 or the third-party
offer server 34.
[0034] The illustrated web server 18 may be configured to receive
requests for offers interfaces encoded in a webpage (e.g. a
collection of resources to be rendered by the browser and
associated plug-ins, including execution of scripts, such as
JavaScript.TM., invoked by the webpage). In some embodiments, the
offers interface may include inputs by which the user may request
additional data, such as clickable or touchable display regions or
display regions for text input. Such inputs may prompt the browser
to request additional data from the web server 18 or transmit data
to the web server 18, and the web server 18 may respond to such
requests by obtaining the requested data and returning it to the
user device or acting upon the transmitted data (e.g., storing
posted data or executing posted commands). In some embodiments, the
requests are for a new webpage or for data upon which client-side
scripts will base changes in the webpage, such as XMLHttpRequest
requests for data in a serialized format, e.g. JavaScript.TM.
object notation (JSON) or extensible markup language (XML). The web
server 18 may communicate with web browsers, such as the web
browser 50 or 54 executed by user devices 30 or 32. In some
embodiments, the webpage is modified by the web server 18 based on
the type of user device, e.g., with a mobile webpage having fewer
and smaller images and a narrower width being presented to the
mobile user device 30, and a larger, more content rich webpage
being presented to the desk-top user device 32. An identifier of
the type of user device, either mobile or non-mobile, for example,
may be encoded in the request for the webpage by the web browser
(e.g., as a user agent type in an HTTP header associated with a GET
request), and the web server 18 may select the appropriate offers
interface based on this embedded identifier, thereby providing an
offers interface appropriately configured for the specific user
device in use.
[0035] The illustrated ingest module 20 may be configured to
receive data about new offers (e.g., offers that are potentially
not presently stored in the data store 24), such as data feeds from
the affiliate network servers 44 and 46, identifications of offers
from user devices 28, 30, or 32, offers identified by third-party
offer server 34, offers identified by merchant servers 38, 40, or
42, or offers entered by an administrator via the administrator
device 36. In some embodiments, the ingest module 20 may respond to
receipt of a record identifying a potentially new offer by querying
the data store 24 to determine whether the offer is presently
stored. Upon determining that the offer is not presently stored by
the data store 24, the ingest module 20 may transmit a request to
the data store 24 to store the record. In some cases, the data
about new offers may be an affiliate data-feed from an affiliate
network containing a plurality of offer records (e.g., more than
100), each record identifying offer terms, a merchant, a URL of the
merchant associated with the offer, a product description, and an
offer identifier. The ingest module 22 may periodically query such
data-feeds from the affiliate-network servers 44 or 46, parse the
data-feeds, and iterate through (or map each entry to one of a
plurality of processes operating in parallel) the records in the
data-feeds. Bulk, automated processing of such data-feeds is
expected to lower operating costs of the offers engine 12.
[0036] The administration module 22 may provide an interface by
which an administrator operating the administrator device 36
curates and contextualizes offers. For example, the administration
module 22 may receive instructions from administrator that identify
offers to be presented in the offer interface prior to user
interaction with the offer interface, or offers to be presented in
this initialized offers interface for certain categories of users,
such as users having certain attributes within their user profile.
Further, in some embodiments, the administration module 22 may
receive data descriptive of offers from the administrator, such as
URLs of images relevant to the offer, categorizations of the offer,
normalized data about the offer, and the like.
[0037] The illustrated data store 24, in some embodiments, stores
data about offers and user interactions with those offers. The data
store 24 may include various types of data stores, including
relational or non-relational databases, document collections,
hierarchical key-value pairs, or memory images, for example. In
this embodiment, the data store 24 includes a user data store 56, a
session data store 58, an offers data store 60, and an analytics
data store 62. These data stores 56, 58, 60, and 62 may be stored
in a single database, document, or the like, or may be stored in
separate data structures.
[0038] In this embodiment, the illustrated user data store 56
includes a plurality of records, each record being a user profile
and having a user identifier, a list of offers (e.g., identifiers
of offers) identified by the user as favorites, a list of
categories of offers identified by the user as favorites, a list of
merchants identified by the user as favorites, account information
for interfacing with other services to which the user subscribes
(e.g., a plurality of access records, each record including an
identifier of a service, a URL of the service, a user identifier
for the service, an OAuth access token credential issued by the
service at the user's request, and an expiration time of the
credential), a user password for the offers engine 12, a location
of the user device or the user (e.g., a zip code of the user), and
a gender of the user. In some embodiments, each user profile
includes a list of other users identified by the user of the user
profile as being people in whose commentary on, or curation of,
offers the user is interested, thereby forming an offers-interest
graph. In some embodiments, users have control of their data,
including what is stored and who can view the data, and can choose
to opt-in to the collection and storage of such user data to
improve their experience with the offers engine 12.
[0039] In this embodiment, the session data store 58 stores a
plurality of session records, each record including information
about a session a given user is having or has had with the offers
engine 12. The session records may specify a session identifier, a
user identifier, and state data about the session, including which
requests have been received from the user and what data has been
transmitted to the user. Session records may also indicate the IP
address of the user device, timestamps of exchanges with the user
device, and a location of the user device (e.g., retail store or
aisle in a retail store in which the user device is located).
[0040] The illustrated offers data store 60, in some embodiments,
includes a plurality of offer records, each offer record may
identify a merchant, offers by that merchant, and attributes of the
relationship with the merchant, e.g., whether there is a direct
relationship with the merchant by which the merchant directly
compensates the operator of the offers engine 12 or whether the
merchant compensates the operator of the offers engine 12 via an
affiliate network and which affiliate network. The offers by each
merchant may be stored in a plurality of merchant-offer records,
each merchant-offer record may specify applicable terms and
conditions of the offer, e.g., whether the offer is a discount,
includes free or discounted shipping, requires purchase of a
certain number of items, is a rebate, or is a coupon (which is not
to suggest that these designations are mutually exclusive). In
records in which the offer is a coupon, the record may further
indicate whether the coupon is for in-store use (e.g. whether the
coupon is associated with a printable image for presentation at a
point-of-sale terminal, a mobile device-displayable image, or other
mediums) or whether the coupon is for online use and has a coupon
code, in which case the coupon code is also part of the
merchant-offer record. The merchant-offer records may also include
an expiration date of the offer, comments on the offer, rankings of
the offer by users, a time at which the offer was first issued or
entered into the offers engine 12, and values (e.g., binary values)
indicating whether users found the offer to be effective, with each
value or ranking being associated with a timestamp, in some
embodiments. The values and rankings may be used to calculate
statistics indicative of the desirability of the offer and likely
success of accepting the offer. The timestamps associated with the
values, rankings, and time of issuance or entry into the offers
engine 12 may also be used to weight rankings of the offer, with
older values being assigned less weight than newer values and older
offers being ranked lower than newer offers, all other things being
equal, as many offers expire or have a limited number of uses.
[0041] The illustrated analytics data store 62 may store a
plurality of records about historical interactions with the offers
engine 12, such as aggregate statistics about the performance of
various offers. In some embodiments, the analytics data store 62
stores a plurality of transaction records, each transaction record
identifying an offer that was accepted by a user at a merchant, the
merchant, the time of presentation of the offer to the user, and an
indicator of whether the merchant has compensated the entity
operating the offers engine 12 for presentation of the offer to the
user. Storing and auditing these transaction records is expected to
facilitate relatively accurate collection of payments owed by
merchants and identification of future offers likely to lead to a
relatively high rates of compensation for prominent presentation
based on past performance of offers having similar attributes.
[0042] The cache server 23 stores a subset of the data in the data
store 24 that is among the more likely data to be accessed in the
near future. To facilitate relatively fast access, the cache server
23 may store cached data in relatively high speed memory, such as
random access memory or a solid-state drive. The cached data may
include offers entered into the offers engine 12 within a threshold
period of time, such as offers that are newer than one day. In
another example, the cache data may include offers that are
accessed with greater than a threshold frequency, such as offers
that are accessed more than once a day, or offers accessed within
the threshold, such as offers accessed within the previous day.
Caching such offer data is expected to facilitate faster access to
offer data than systems that do not cache offer data.
[0043] The illustrated control module 14, in some embodiments,
controls the operation of the other components of the offers engine
12, receiving requests for data or requests to add or modify data
from the API server 16, the web server 18, the ingest module 20,
and the administration module 22, and instructing the data store 24
to modify, retrieve, or add data in accordance with the request.
The control module 14 may further instruct the cache server 23 to
modify data mirrored in the cache server 23. In some embodiments,
the cache server 23 may be updated hourly, and inconsistent data
may potentially be maintained in the cache server 23 in order to
conserve computing resources.
[0044] The illustrated components of the offers engine 12 are
depicted as discrete functional blocks, but embodiments are not
limited to systems in which the functionality described herein is
organized as illustrated by FIG. 1. The functionality provided by
each of the components of the offers engine 12 may be provided by
software or hardware modules that are differently organized than is
presently depicted, for example such software or hardware may be
intermingled, broken up, distributed (e.g. within a data center or
geographically), or otherwise differently organized. The
functionality described herein may be provided by one or more
processors of one or more computers executing code stored on a
tangible, non-transitory, machine readable medium.
[0045] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process 64 for acquiring data
related to offers within some embodiments of the offer engine 12
discussed above. In this embodiment, the process 64 begins with
receiving offer data describing a plurality of offers from
affiliate networks, merchants, and users, as illustrated by block
66. This step may be performed by the above-mentioned ingest module
20. As noted above, the received offer data may be received from
one or all of these sources. The received offer data may be
received via an offer interface by which users associated with
these sources enter data about offers, or the received offer data
may be received in a predefined format, such as a serialized data
format, in an automatic data feed pushed or pulled periodically or
in response to the availability of new data from affiliate networks
or merchants. Receiving the offer data may include determining
whether the offer data is redundant to offer data already received
and normalizing the offer data.
[0046] The process 64, in some embodiments, includes normalizing
and enriching the offer data. Normalizing may include normalizing
field names of the data and normalizing the way in which dates are
expressed, for example. Enriching may include associating images
with the offers for presentation with the offers and adding
metadata to the offers to assist users searching for offers.
[0047] Next, in the present embodiment, the received offer data is
stored in an offer data store, as indicated by block 68. Storing
the offer data in the offer data store may include identifying a
merchant to which the offer pertains and storing the offer in a
merchant-offer record associated with that merchant. Further, some
embodiments may include inserting the offer in order in a sorted
list of offers for relatively fast retrieval of offers using a
binary search algorithm or other techniques to facilitate
relatively quick access to data that has been preprocessed (e.g.,
using a prefix trie). In some embodiments, storing the received
offer may further include updating hash tables by which the offer
may be retrieved according to various parameters, each hash table
being associated with one parameter and including a hash key value
calculated based on the parameter and paired with an address of the
offer. Such hash tables are expected to facilitate relatively fast
access to a given offer as the need to iterate through potentially
all offers meeting certain criteria may be potentially avoided.
[0048] In some embodiments, the process 64 further includes
receiving a request from a user device for offers, as indicated by
block 70. The request may specify criteria for identifying offers,
such as categories of offers, search terms for offers, or requests
for offers designated as favorites.
[0049] Next, the present embodiment includes identifying offers in
the offer data store responsive to the user request, as indicated
by block 72. Identifying offers in the offer data store may be
performed by the above-mentioned controller 14 (FIG. 1) by
constructing a query to the offer data store 60 based on a request
received from the web server 18 or the API server 16. The query may
be transmitted to the offer data store 60, or to the cache server
23, each of which may return responsive records.
[0050] Next, the identified offers are transmitted to the user
device, as indicated by block 74. Transmitting the identified
offers may include transmitting the identified offers in an offer
interface, such as a webpage, or an API transmission to a native
mobile application, for example by the web server 18, or the API
server 16 of FIG. 1, respectively.
[0051] The device receiving the identified offers may, in response,
perform a process described below with reference to FIG. 3 by which
additional offers are requested or an offer is selected and a
purchase is executed. This process of FIG. 3 and steps 70 through
74 of FIG. 2 may be repeated numerous times, in some use cases,
before advancing to the next steps. Further, the steps 66 through
68 may be repeated numerous times independently of (e.g.,
concurrent with) the performance of steps 70 through 74 of FIG. 2
(which is not to suggest that other steps described herein may not
also be executed independently). That is, the process 64 may
undergo step 60 and 68, for example, 50 times within a given time,
while performing steps 70 through 74 500 times within that given
time, and performing the remaining steps of process 64 a single
time.
[0052] In some embodiments, a user device undergoing the process of
FIG. 3 may indicate to an offers engine that the user has selected
an offer (e.g., by clicking on or touching a selectable element in
an offers interface associated with the offer). In response, the
offers engine may direct the user device to an affiliate-network
server or a merchant server associated with the offer, as
illustrated by block 75.
[0053] Next, this embodiment of the process 64 includes receiving
from merchants or affiliate networks transaction data identifying
offers accepted via the user device, as illustrated by block 76.
The transaction data may be pulled from these sources, for example,
by the ingest module 20 of FIG. 1, periodically, or in response to
some threshold number of transactions having occurred.
[0054] Next, in this embodiment, the receipt transaction data may
be stored in an analytics data store, as indicated by block 78. In
some embodiments, this data may be stored in the analytics data
store 62 of FIG. 1. Storing the transaction data is expected to
facilitate the identification of attributes of relatively
profitable offers, as the transaction data indicates which offers
historically yielded compensable transactions. Further, storing the
transaction data is expected to facilitate relatively accurate
auditing of payments from merchants or affiliate networks.
[0055] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a process 80 that
provides an example of an offer interface at a user device. The
process 80 may be performed by the above-mentioned native
application 52 or web browser 50 or 54 in cooperation with the
offers engine 12.
[0056] Some embodiments of process 80 begin with receiving, at a
user device, instructions that cause the user device to display an
offers interface, as indicated by block 82. The received
instructions may be in the form of a downloaded native application,
such as one downloaded from an application store hosted by a
provider of mobile devices, or the received instructions may be in
the form of a website received from the offers engine 12 and
rendered in a browser of the user device.
[0057] In some embodiments, the process 80 further includes
receiving, at the user device, a plurality of offers, as indicated
by block 84, and displaying, at the user device, the offers in the
offer interface, as indicated by block 86. The offers may be
received at approximately the same time the instructions of step 82
are received, for example along with a webpage, or the offers may
be received at a later date, for example during a session
subsequent to downloading the native application.
[0058] The offers interface may include inputs by which the user
may search, filter, or otherwise browse offers having various
attributes. Some of these interfaces are described below with
reference to steps performed to determine whether the user has
engaged these inputs. In some embodiments, determining whether the
user has engaged these inputs may be performed by an event handler
executed by the user device, the event handler causing the user
device to perform the corresponding, below-described requests to
the offers engine 12 based on the type of event, e.g., whether the
user touched, clicked, or otherwise selected a particular button on
the offers interface.
[0059] Illustrated process 80 includes determining whether the user
is searching for offers, as indicated by block 88. With the offers
interface, the user may express their intention to search for
offers by entering search terms in a text entry box and selecting a
button to request a search in accordance with the entered search
term. Upon selecting this button, the user device may transmit a
request for offers satisfying the entered search criteria, as
indicated by block 90. The transmitted request may be in the form
of a GET request or an API call to the web server 18 or the API
server 16 of the offers engine 12 of FIG. 1.
[0060] In some embodiments, the process 80 further includes
determining whether the user requests offers within a collection of
offers, as indicated by block 92. The offers interface may include
selectable inputs that identify the collections, such as clickable
collection names, collection selection buttons, or collection
selection tabs. Examples of collections include categories of goods
or services, such as sporting goods, house-wares, groceries, and
the like; collections of modes of coupon redemption, such as
in-store coupon redemption and online coupon redemption;
collections based on offer statistics, such as newest offers, most
popular offers, highest ranked offers; collections of offers
designated by a user or other users; or collections based the value
conferred by the offer, such as discounts, free shipping, rebates,
and referral fees. Upon determining that the user has requested
offers within a collection, the user device may transmit a request
for offers within the collection to the offers engine 12, as
indicated by block 94, which may return data responsive to the
request.
[0061] In some embodiments, the process 80 includes determining
whether the user requests offers previously designated by the user,
as indicated by block 96. In some embodiments, the offers interface
may include an input by which a user can designate an offer, such
as designating offers as being a user favorite, designating offers
as being ranked in a particular fashion, or designating offers as
likely being of interest to some other user, such as users adjacent
one another in a social graph. The offers interface may include an
input for a user to make designations, such as a user selectable
input labeled "add to my favorites," or "add to my wallet," and an
input for a user to request offers having a designation, such as a
user selectable input labeled "view my favorites." or "view my
wallet." Upon determining that the user made such a request, the
process 80 includes transmitting a request for the offers
previously designated by the user, as indicated by block 88. The
transmission may be made to the offers engine 12, to the API server
16 or the web server 18, as described above with reference to FIG.
1, and may include an identification of the designation and the
user.
[0062] The process 80, in some embodiments, further includes
determining whether the user requests offers previously designated
by another user, as indicated by block 100. The offers interface,
in some embodiments, may include an input by which a user makes
such a request, such as a user selectable input labeled "offers
recommended by my friends." Upon determining that the user has made
such a request, the process 80 transmits a request for offers
previously designated by the other user (or users), as indicated by
block 102. Again, the transmission may be to the offers engine 12
of FIG. 1, which may store or otherwise have access to offers
designated by other users and a social graph of the user by which
responsive offers are identified. Further, the offers interface may
include an input by which the user may view identifiers of other
users and add the other users to an offer-interest graph of the
user. This offer interest graph may be referenced by the offers
engine 12 to identify offers in response to the request of step
102.
[0063] The process 80 further includes, in some embodiments,
receiving, at the user device, one or more offers responsive to the
request, as indicated by block 104, and displaying the responsive
offers on the offers interface, as indicated by block 106.
[0064] In some embodiments and some use cases, a selection from the
user is received via the offers interface, thereby identifying an
offer among the displayed offers, as indicated by block 108. In
some embodiments, each of the offers may be displayed with an
associated input by which the user selects the offer, such as a
touchable or clickable button, region, or text. The selection, in
some embodiments, may cause the offers interface to request
additional data from the offers engine, such as instructions from
the offers engine to navigate to an affiliate-network server
associated with the offer or to navigate to a merchant server
associated with the offer. In other embodiments, such instructions
may be present within the offers interface, e.g., in the form of
URLs linking to these servers.
[0065] The process 80 further includes determining whether the
selected offer is compensable through an affiliate network, as
indicated by block 110. This determination may be made by the
offers engine 12, in some embodiments, for each of the offers being
displayed prior to transmission of the offers to the user device.
For example, each offer may be associated with a designation
indicating whether the offer is compensable in this fashion, and
the designation may be transmitted along with the offer, for
instance, by associating the offer with HTML or JavaScript.TM. that
so designate the offer, or by including a field including the
designation in a response to an API call for each offer. The user
device, in some embodiments, may take different actions depending
on the designation associated with the selected offer.
[0066] Upon determining that the selected offer is not compensable
through an affiliate network, the process 80 of this embodiment
includes determining whether the selected offer is compensable
directly from the merchant associated with the offer, as indicated
by block 112. Again, the determination of block 112 may be
performed, in some embodiments, by the offers engine 12 for each of
the offers being displayed prior to transmission of the displayed
offers, and each displayed offer may be associated with a
designation based on the results of the determination, such as
different HTML or JavaScript.TM. or a different field value in an
API response. The user device may take different actions depending
on this designation.
[0067] Upon determining that the selected offer is not compensable
directly from the merchant, the process 80 may proceed to block 118
described below. Upon determining that the selected offer is
compensable, the process 80, in this embodiment, may proceed to
request the website of the merchant issuing the selected offer with
a request that identifies the affiliate from whom the selected
offer was obtained, as indicated by block 114. The request may be
in the form of a URL having as a parameter an identifier of the
entity operating the offer engine 12, thereby indicating to the
merchant that the affiliate should be compensated in accordance
with an arrangement between the merchant and the affiliate. Upon
performance of step 114, the process 80 of the present embodiment
proceeds to step 120 described below.
[0068] As indicated by block 110, upon determining that the
selected offer is compensable through an affiliate network, the
process 80 proceeds to transmit a request to the affiliate-network
server for instructions to store data identifying an affiliate from
whom the selected offer was obtained, as indicated by block 116.
This request may be a request for content from the
affiliate-network server that is not displayed to the user, or is
not displayed to the user for an appreciable amount of time (e.g.,
less than 500 ms), and the request may include an identifier of the
affiliate, the merchant, and the offer. The requested content may
cause the user device to store in persistent memory of the browser
of the user device (e.g., memory that lasts between sessions, such
as a cookie or a database of the browser) an identifier of the
affiliate operating the offers engine 12. This value may be
retrieved later by the affiliate-network at the instruction of the
merchant upon the user accepting the offer, for example by the user
using a coupon code associated with the offer at the merchant,
thereby allowing the merchant (or the affiliate network) to
identify the appropriate party to compensate for the sale. The
coupon code may be a relatively short text string (e.g., shorter
than 25 characters or 5 words) selected to be both distinct and
memorable to users. In some cases, an image or other visibly
distinctive user-manipulable body of data serves the role of the
coupon code.
[0069] Upon transmitting the request the affiliate network server,
the process 80 further includes requesting the website of the
merchant issuing the selected offer, as indicated by block 118, and
transmitting acceptance of the offer to the merchant via the
merchant's website, as indicated by block 120. Accepting the offer,
as noted above, may cause the merchant to compensate the affiliate
operating the offers engine 12.
[0070] The process 80 of FIG. 3 is expected to facilitate
relatively fast access to offers that are likely to be relevant to
a user, as each of the determinations of step 88, 92, 96, and 100
provide different paths by which the user can specify offers in
which the user is likely to be interested. Further, the
determinations of step 110 and 112 provide dual mechanisms by which
the operator of the offers engine 12 can be compensated, thereby
potentially increasing revenue.
[0071] In some embodiments, as described further below, a website
from the offers engine 12 (referred to as an offers website, but
which is not limited to websites) that provides offers to users may
include functionality to enable users to redeem certain types of
offers, e.g., online coupons. In such embodiments, the offers
engine 12 may provide a redemption header (also referred to as a
"traveling header") in a merchant website for easier and faster
redemption of online coupons and elimination or reduction of
complicated user actions needed to redeem the online coupons. The
header may be characterized as "traveling" in the sense that it is
presented in or with webpages from two or more domains, and as the
header travels, it may carry data from a domain having offers data
(e.g., coupon codes in the offers engine website) to a domain in
which the offers data is used to redeem the offer (e.g., a merchant
website), thereby relieving the user of the burden of retaining and
recalling this information. Accordingly, the redemption header may
result in increased rates of coupon redemption and increased sales
for merchants offering online coupons provided by the offers
engine. Embodiments, however, are not limited to systems that
provide these benefits, and some embodiments may provide other
benefits, as various engineering and cost tradeoffs are
envisioned.
[0072] As explained below, the redemption header may be provided in
merchant websites provided from merchant servers 38 to enable a
user to easily view offer information after leaving the offers
website from the offers engine 12 (FIG. 1). The header may be
provided by the merchant server in the sense that the merchant
server stores and sends the instructions and resources by which the
header is rendered or in the sense that the merchant server sends
instructions directing a web browser to retrieve these instructions
and resources from another server, e.g., a GET request to a network
address of the offers engine of FIG. 1 or a content delivery
network.
[0073] FIGS. 4A-4E depict screens of a browser executing on a user
device, such as mobile user device 28, desktop user device 32, and
other devices, illustrating the redemption of an offer, e.g., an
online coupon, and a redemption header in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. Although the redemption header
described below is illustrated and referred to as "header," it
should be appreciated that other embodiments may include a
redemption bar provided at any location of a merchant webpage
(e.g., a redemption footer). Thus, other embodiments having a
redemption bar similar to the redemption header but in a different
location may be provided in the manner described below. The shape
of the redemption bar is not limited to "bars," e.g., generally
rectangular display elements that horizontally span a webpage, and
may include other forms of presentation, e.g., an overlaid box.
[0074] FIG. 4A depicts a screen 400 of a web browser, e.g., an
application for receiving, rendering, interaction with, and viewing
web content in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. As will be appreciated, the screen 400 and other screens
described below may be presented in a display of a user device that
may receive inputs from a user and provide outputs on the display.
In some embodiments, inputs may be received from a keyboard, a
pointing device (e.g., a mouse) or other input device. In some
embodiments, a user interface may include a touchscreen, software
modules, or any combination thereof, and inputs may be received as
touches on the touchscreen, such as from a digit of a user, a
stylus, etc. The screen 400 depicts an offers webpage 402 (a term
which includes web apps having a document object model dynamically
constructed client-side with AJAX requests) provided by the offers
engine 12. The webpage 402 may include various elements to display
information to a user, and in some instances, receive user input.
For example, the webpage 402 may include a search field 404, a
search control 406, navigation tabs 408, a sign-up control 410 and
login control 412. Additionally, the webpage 402 may include other
elements, such as a store panel 414, an offers area 416 having a
title 418, and various other elements 420.
[0075] The search field 404 may enable a user to enter a search
query and execute a search by selecting the search control 406
(e.g., a search button). The search may include searches for
offers, categories of offers, merchants, or any other suitable
search queries. The navigation tabs 408 may enable a user to
navigate to different sections of an offers website, such as by
selecting (e.g., clicking) one of the navigation tabs 408. For
example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the navigation tabs 408 may include,
for example, a "Coupon Codes" tab, a "Printable Coupons" tab, a
"Grocery Coupons" tab, a "Community" tab, and so on. The sign-up
control 410, e.g., the illustrated "Sign-Up" button, may enable a
user to create a user profile with the offers engine 12 for
customizing the content provided by the offers engine 12.
Accordingly, the login control 412 (e.g., the illustrated "Login"
button) may enable a user having a user profile with the offers
engine 12 to login and retrieve customizations and other profile
attributes.
[0076] The merchant panel 414 may include a title 422 (e.g.,
"Popular Stores") and a carousel 423 or other visual element that
displays selectable merchant tiles 424 (e.g., "Merchant3",
"Merchant4", "Merchant5", and "Merchant6"). The merchant tiles 424
may each display text, images (e.g., a logo), or both associated
with a merchant. A user may select one of the merchant tiles 424 to
select a merchant and display offers associated with the selected
merchant in the offers area 416. Additionally, a user may scroll
the carousel 423 by selecting (e.g., clicking) the scroll controls
426 to scroll through the merchant tiles 424 and view other
merchants. The other elements 420 may include selectable
advertisements, links to social networking integration (e.g., a
"Like" button, a "+1" button, etc.), links to other sections of the
offers website, links to regional versions of the offers website,
input fields for submission of user information (e.g., email
addresses), and so on.
[0077] The offers area 416 may present offers, e.g., online coupons
430, for viewing and selection by a user. The offers area 416 may
include any number of offers associated with merchants providing
goods, services, or a combination thereof. The offers area 416 may
present offers based on ranking criteria, user selections (e.g.,
selections of a merchant, offer categories, etc.) or other
parameters. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the offers area 416
depicts top ranked offers as indicated by the "Today's Top Coupons"
text displayed in the title 418. Each coupon 430 may be presented
with information associated with the coupon 430, such as a merchant
tile 432 and a descriptive text 434. Additionally, each coupon 430
may include a coupon code box 436 having an offer redemption
identifier, e.g., a coupon code 438, associated with each coupon
430. The coupon code 438 may be displayed in the coupon code box
436 or other visual element, such as a circle, balloon, etc. As
described in detail below, upon selection of one of the coupons
430, the coupon code of a selected coupon may be conveyed to and
displayed in a redemption header in a merchant website. The offer
redemption identifier may also include, for example, discount
descriptions (e.g., "50% off of all sweatshirts"), rebate
instructions (e.g., "Receive $20 rebate when purchasing a flash
drive from Merchant1"), identifiers of free goods or services
(e.g., "Free tokens with the order of any large pizza"), or any
other identifier associated with an offer that enables or describes
the redemption of the offer to a user. Other offer redemption
identifiers may be displayed in a box or other visual element in
the offers area 416.
[0078] The merchant tile 432 may include a text, image (e.g., a
merchant logo), or combination thereof identifying the merchant
associated with the coupon. The descriptive text 434 may include
information about the coupon, such as the goods, services, or both
associated with the coupon, the discount or other offer provided by
the coupon, the expiration date, or any other suitable information
or combination thereof. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, a first
online coupon 430A may be presented with a merchant graphic 432A
(e.g., "Merchant1") and descriptive text 434A (e.g., "40% Off Save
up to 40% on select diapers from Acme Co. Exp. Jun. 4, 2012).
Additionally, the first online coupon 430A includes a coupon box
436A having a coupon code 438A ("PMPRSYT8") associated with the
coupon 430A. The other coupon 430B illustrated in FIG. 4A may
include similar information, such as merchant tile 432B,
descriptive text 434B, coupon code box 436B, and so on.
[0079] To use a coupon, a user may select (e.g., touch, click,
etc.) one of the online coupons 430. For example, a user may select
any portion of the coupon 430A, such as the merchant tile 432A, the
descriptive text 434A, the coupon code box 436A, etc. As described
below, upon selection of a coupon, the browser executing on the
user device may be redirected to the merchant website associated
with the selected coupon. For example, the merchant website may be
presented in an existing window of the browser, in a new window of
the browser, in a new tab of the browser, or via other functions of
the browser. Additionally, upon selection of a coupon, a value of
the coupon code may be copied to a clipboard or other temporary
storage. For example, upon selection of the coupon 430A, the value
of the coupon code 438A ("PMPRSYT8") may be copied to a clipboard.
The interactions described herein may be implemented with an event
handler conveyed in instructions, such as JavaScript.TM., from the
offers engine of FIG. 1 and executed by the web browser. Such
instructions may include a mapping of events, e.g., onclick,
ontouch, and the like, to JavaScript.TM. functions (also provided
by the offers engine) that implement the corresponding
functionality upon occurrence of the corresponding event. In some
cases, a browser add-on, such as Adobe Flash Player.TM. or other
multimedia player having elevated security privileges relative to
the browser, is used to access the temporary storage. Or (i.e.,
and/or) the coupon code may be stored in a subsequently created
document object model (DOM) element of a traveling header.
[0080] FIG. 4B depicts another screen 440 of a browser in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The screen
440 displays a merchant webpage 442 of a merchant website 444 that
may be presented in response to a user selection of an online
coupon, such as a selection of the online coupon 430A depicted in
FIG. 4A. To this end, at the selection interface element for a
given offer, the web content from the offers engine (e.g., HTML,
CSS, images, and JavaScript.TM.) may include a link to the
merchant's website or an affiliate network server that redirects to
the merchant's website. Accordingly, after a user selects an online
coupon from the offers webpage 402, the merchant website 444 may be
presented in the browser to enable a user to redeem the selected
coupon. As described in detail below, a redemption header 446 may
be added to the merchant website 442 to display the offer
redemption identifier associated with the selected offer and text
(e.g., instructions) associated with redemption of the selected
offer. Additionally, the redemption header 446 may be retrieved
asynchronously relative to loading of the merchant webpage 442, as
described below with reference to FIG. 6. For example, web content
for rendering the header 446 may be requested from one server, such
as the offer's engine of FIG. 1, while the rest of the webpage is
being requested from a merchant server and rendered. Thus, when a
user selects the selected coupon 430A, the merchant webpage 442 may
load in the browser without interruption by the retrieval of the
redemption header 446.
[0081] It should be appreciated that the merchant website 444 may
include any number and type of webpages. For example, the merchant
webpage 442 may include a landing page, a storefront webpage, a
product webpage, and other webpages. Additionally, the merchant
website 444 may be provided via different types of domains
associated with a merchant, such as a parent domain associated with
the merchant, subdomains of the parent domain, an mdot domain
(i.e., "m.") associated with the merchant, and so on.
[0082] The redemption header 446 may be provided in the merchant
webpage 442, as described in FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B below, and may
remain on the other webpages of the merchant website 444 as a user
navigates the website 444. Thus, the redemption header "travels"
from the offers webpage to the merchant webpage 442 and other
webpages of the merchant website. By retaining the redemption
header 446, a user may have access to the coupon code 438A required
to redeem the coupon 430A and instructions and other text
associated with the selected coupon 430A. As shown in FIG. 4B, the
redemption header 446 may include descriptive text 448, a coupon
code box 450, instructions 452, and a close control 454 (e.g., a
close button). The descriptive text 448 may describe the contents,
function, or both of the redemption header 446. For example, the
descriptive text 448 may include the text "Here is your Coupon
Code" describing the contents of the coupon code box 450 presented
in the bar 446. Accordingly, the coupon code box 450 may include
the coupon code 438A associated with the selected coupon 430A.
Additionally, the instructions 452 may provide instructions to the
user on how to use the coupon code 438A and redeem the selected
coupon 430A. For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the instructions
include the text "Copy & paste at checkout to see your
savings." Displaying the coupon code adjacent or in the merchant
website may facilitate copying and pasting even if the browser does
not have access to clipboard memory, e.g., if an Adobe Flash
browser plug-in is disabled or absent, as the user may highlight,
copy, and paste the code manually, accessing the clipboard memory,
from within the same visual context, e.g., without switching to
another window, tab, or website, or writing down the code and
typing it.
[0083] The merchant website 444 may include a variety of web
content that enables a user to search or browse for goods,
services, or both and select and order such goods and services. As
shown in FIG. 4B, for example, web content of the merchant website
444 may include a search field 456, search button 458, and a
merchant storefront 460. It should be appreciated that the web
content depicted in FIG. 4B is merely an example and merchant
websites may include a wide variety of web content, designs, and
functionality. Such functionality may include, for example, the
ability to search the merchant website 444 by entering a search
query into the search field 456 and selecting (e.g., touching,
clicking, etc.) the search button 458. Additionally, the merchant
storefront 460 may display goods, services, or both offered by the
merchant and available for order by a user. In some embodiments, a
user may use the search field 456 to find the goods, services, or
both associated with the selected coupon. In other embodiments, the
goods or services may be presented to the user in the merchant
storefront 460 based on the selected coupon 430A.
[0084] As mentioned above, a user may navigate the merchant website
444 by selecting the search button 458, selecting links in the
merchant storefront 460, and so on. In response, various webpages
of the merchant website may be requested and displayed by the web
browser. The redemption header 446 may remain in such webpages
until the user selects the close button 454, which may be mapped by
an event handler of the website to a JavaScript.TM. function that
removes an element of the document object model corresponding to
the redemption header. Thus, regardless of the portion of the
merchant website 444 displayed by the web browser, in some
embodiments, the redemption header 446 (and coupon code 438A) may
remain accessible (e.g., visible and retrievable via a copy
command) to the user. For example, FIG. 4C depicts another screen
461 of a browser illustrating a webpage 462 of the merchant website
444 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As
shown in FIG. 4C, the webpage 462 of the merchant website 444 may
include a product listing having product text 464 and product
images 466. For example, the webpage 462 may include product text
464A and product image 466A associated with a first product,
product text 464B and product image 466B associated with a second
product, and so on. A user may navigate to the webpage 462 by
searching for a product, selecting links in the merchant storefront
460, or other navigation actions within the merchant website 444.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4C, the redemption header 446 remains
(i.e., travels) in the webpage 462 through a sequence of merchant
webpages. Thus, while a user is viewing various products on the
webpage 462, the redemption header 446 may remain to allow access
to the information associated with the selected coupon.
[0085] As described above, a user may use the merchant website to
order goods and services associated with the selected coupon, such
as by adding the goods and services to a virtual "shopping cart"
and selecting an option to checkout. FIG. 4D depicts a screen 468
of the browser illustrating a checkout page 470 of the merchant
website 444 in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. As described above, web content such as the checkout
page 470 may be retrieved from the Internet via a network
accessible by a user device executing the browser, and this web
content may be displayed by browser. As shown in FIG. 4D, the
redemption header 446 remains in the checkout webpage 470 and
includes the coupon code box 450 and the coupon code 438A. The
redemption header 446 may remain accessible while a user completes
a transaction, e.g., an order for goods, services, or both with the
merchant. Here again, a user may remove the redemption header 446
by selecting the close control 454. In some cases, the header is
only shown at the check-out page, or the header may be displayed in
the preceding webpages, e.g., while the user shops to serve as a
reminder of a discount while the user makes purchasing
decisions.
[0086] The merchant checkout page may include various web content
that enables a user to view and enter order information and
complete an order for goods, services, or both. For example, the
merchant checkout page 470 may include an order information portion
474, a shipping information portion 476, a code entry portion 478,
and a checkout button 480. The order information portion 474
enables a user to enter a shipping address, a billing address,
payment information, and the like. By selecting the checkout out
button 480 ("Place Your Order"), a user may submit an order for
fulfillment by the merchant. The order information portion 474 may
include order information, such as products or services in the
order, quantities, prices, payment information, etc., and may
include a button or other control for changing the order.
Similarly, the shipping information portion 476 may include
shipping address, a billing address, and other shipping information
and may include a button or other control to enable a user to
change the shipping information. The code entry portion 478 may
enable a user to enter coupon codes, promotional codes, gift card
codes, or any other codes that may be applied to an order. The code
entry portion 478 may include an input field 482 (e.g., a text
field that receives text input) and a submission button 484
("Apply"). By entering a coupon code or other code into the input
field 482 and selecting the submission button 484, a user may
submit a coupon code to apply a coupon associated with the
merchant. In some embodiments, the input field 482 may accept
images or other input.
[0087] As shown below in FIG. 4E, a user may enter the value
associated with the coupon code into the input field 482 by pasting
a value of the coupon code 438A from the clipboard into the input
field 482. FIG. 4E further depicts the screen 468 and the checkout
page 470 illustrating entry of a coupon code value 486 in the input
field in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As
mentioned above, a value corresponding to the coupon code 438A may
be copied to a clipboard or other temporary storage upon selection
of the selected coupon. Thus, a user may simply paste the contents
of the clipboard into the input field 482 to enter the coupon code
value 486 into the input field 482, and a user does not need to
memorize the coupon code or manually type the code directly into
the input field 482. Alternatively, a user may type or otherwise
enter the coupon code value 486 into the input field 482 and may
easily obtain the coupon code from the redemption header 446
included in the checkout webpage 470. In other embodiments, the
input field 482 may be automatically populated ("auto-populated")
with the coupon code value 486. For example, the code (e.g.,
JavaScript.TM.) associated with the redemption header 446 may
detect the input field 482 when the code is executed as the
redemption bar 446 is loaded, and the coupon code value 486 may be
automatically entered into the input field 482. Or the code may be
loaded by such a script in response to a click event on an
apply-coupon button of the header or a click even on the coupon
code. In some cases, the header is reloaded with each merchant web
page, or executes a script with each loaded merchant web page to
determine whether the web page is a checkout webpage in which the
code may be applied, e.g., by detecting the presence of keywords,
such as "shipping information," or "checkout," in the webpage or a
portion of a URL of the webpage know to correspond with the
merchant's checkout webpage.
[0088] In some embodiments, a <div> tag of other element
including the input field 482 may be detected to detect the input
field 482, such as an input element of type text within an HTML
form element of a div box containing the string "coupon" or related
keywords. In some cases, other content may be conveyed and entered
via the header content. For instance, user shipping addresses,
billing information, and the like may be retrieved from a user
profile of the offers engine, stored in non-visible content of the
header (e.g., a JavaScript.TM. variable), and entered by a script
of the header in response to a request from the user, e.g., in
response to a user clicking an auto-populate button. In yet other
embodiments, a merchant may specifically identify the webpage
element of the input field 482 or may identify the input field 482
using a standardized identification. In some embodiments, a
checkout-page identifier (e.g., keywords, a URL, or the like) may
be stored in association with the merchant by the offers engine
above and sent as an variable in the script or other code
associated with the header, such that the value can be referenced
when a checkout-page detection function is executed in response to
a merchant webpage loading.
[0089] A user may then select the submission button 484 to apply
the coupon code to the order. Thus, the coupon code may be entered
into the input field 482 by merely pasting the contents of a
clipboard or other temporary storage into the input field 482 or by
auto-populating the input field 482. After application of the
coupon code 438A, a user may submit the order to the merchant by
selecting the checkout button 478.
[0090] Although FIGS. 4D and 4E are described with reference to an
input field of a checkout webpage associated with a merchant, it
should be appreciated that the same techniques may apply to input
fields located in any webpage associated with a merchant that may
receive a coupon code and for which a user desired to enter the
code. For example, a shopping cart webpage, a product webpage, or
other merchant webpages may have an input field that may be
processed in the manner described above.
[0091] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4F, the redemption
header 446 may provide different content in response to changes in
the webpage or web content displayed in the browser. For example,
after a different merchant webpage loads or web content within a
merchant webpage changes, the redemption header 446 may change
based on the different webpage or changed web content. An order
confirmation page may be detected using techniques like those
described above for detecting checkout pages, e.g., executing a
page classification script upon loading of each merchant webpage
and determining based on keywords or URL attributes associated with
the merchant in the header script and offers engine whether the
webpage is a checkout page, an order confirmation page, or a
shopping page. Upon detecting the order confirmation page, the
header of FIG. 4F may be presented. FIG. 4F depicts a screen 488 of
a browser illustrating an order confirmation webpage 490 in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. For
example, after a user submits an order, such as from the checkout
page 470 depicted in FIG. 4E, a user may be presented with the
order confirmation webpage 490. The order confirmation webpage 490
may include order information 492 and a "Continue Shopping" button
494. The order information 492 may include a verification of order
submission ("Order successful!"), order information, shipping
information, or any other information associated with an order. The
"Continue Shopping" button 494 may enable a user to navigate to
additional webpages of the merchant website 444, such as by
returning to a merchant storefront or a product webpage.
[0092] As shown in FIG. 4E, in response to the loading of the order
confirmation webpage 490, the redemption header 446 may include
different content that may be based on the order confirmation
webpage 490. As shown in FIG. 4E, the redemption header 446 may
include user feedback instructions 496 ("Was coupon successful?")
and feedback buttons 498. A user may indicate the success of the
selected coupon by selecting the "YES" feedback button 498A and the
failure of the selected coupon by selecting the "NO" feedback
button 498B. Upon selection of one of the buttons 498A or 498B, the
selection may be transmitted to the offers engine 12, a
transmission which includes an identifier of the offer. In this
manner, user feedback regarding the success or failure of an online
coupon or other offer may be collected and used for offer analysis,
offer ranking, affiliate payments, merchant payments, or other
purposes. In some embodiments, after a user selects a feedback
button 498, the redemption header 446 may be removed from the order
confirmation webpage 490, e.g., by a script or code of the header
executed in response to a click event on one of the buttons 498A or
498B. In other embodiments, the redemption header 446 may remain on
the order confirmation webpage and may again present different
content based on user selection of another webpage (e.g., by
selecting the "Continue Shopping" button 480).
[0093] As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the loading of a
different webpage in a browser may be detected. In such an
embodiment, for example, the code associated with the redemption
header 446 may detect a POST, a GET, or other HTTP request method
to detect the loading of a different webpage. Additionally, the
data included in the request method may be parsed and analyzed to
determine the type of webpage requested. For example, if an order
confirmation webpage is detected, e.g., based on a requested URL in
a GET request, then in response, the user feedback text 496 and
feedback buttons 498 may be provided in the redemption header 446.
In other embodiments, the asynchronous loading of different web
content in a merchant webpage may be detected. In such an
embodiment, the merchant webpage may call a method that provides a
message or other indication to the redemption header 446 that
different web content is loading. Such a method may be provided in
an application programming interface (API) provided by the provider
of the offers engine 12.
[0094] FIG. 5 depicts user actions 500 and a redemption header
process 502 in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. Some or all steps of the process portion 502 may be
implemented as executable computer code stored on a non-transitory
tangible computer-readable storage medium and executed by one or
more processors of a special-purpose machine, e.g., a computing
device programmed to execute the code. Initially a user may select
an offer, e.g., an online coupon, from an offers website displayed
in a browser (block 504), such as described above and illustrated
in FIG. 4A, and the online coupon selection may be received (block
506). Next, a value corresponding to the offer redemption
identifier, e.g., a coupon code, associated with the selected
coupon may be copied to a clipboard or other temporary storage
(block 508). Additionally, in response to the user selection, the
browser may be redirected to a merchant webpage (block 510), such
as by providing a merchant webpage in a new tab or window of the
browser. For example, as described above, a merchant webpage may be
requested from one or more merchant webservers and provided to the
browser. As described above and illustrated in FIG. 4B, a
redemption header that includes the offer redemption identifier,
e.g., a coupon code, may be provided in the merchant webpage (block
512).
[0095] A user may then perform other user actions to interact with
the redemption header and merchant webpages. For example, a user
may select the close control of the redemption header (block 514),
and the selection of the close control may be received (block 516).
In response, the redemption header may be removed from the merchant
webpage (block 518). A user may also search and browse a merchant
website to purchase goods, services, or both associated with the
coupon. Subsequently, a user may navigate to a merchant webpage
having an input field to complete an order for goods, services, or
both, such as a checkout webpage, a shopping cart webpage, or other
merchant webpage (block 520). A user may then paste a coupon code
value from the clipboard or other temporary storage into the input
field of the merchant webpage (block 522). As described above and
as illustrated in FIG. 4E, the input field may then be populated
with the value of the coupon code of the selected coupon (block
524). After the coupon code is entered into the input field, a user
may submit the coupon code for redemption and continue the checkout
to complete the order (block 526). As described above in FIG. 3,
redemption of offers, such as a selected coupon, may occur through
an affiliate network or directly from a merchant.
[0096] FIG. 6A depicts a process 600 for providing a redemption
header in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Some or all steps of the process 600 may be implemented as
executable computer code stored on a non-transitory tangible
computer-readable storage medium and executed by one or more
processors of a special-purpose machine, e.g., a computing device
programmed to execute the code. Initially, as described above, a
selection of an online coupon from an offers website may be
received (block 602). Next, an offer identifier associated with the
selected online coupon may be stored in a browser-accessible
storage item (e.g., a cookie, a SQLite database, a localStorage
object, etc.). In some embodiments, for example, the
browser-accessible storage item may be a session cookie that
expires when a session ends (e.g., when the browser is
shutdown).
[0097] As described above and as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the
browser may be redirected to a merchant webpage (block 606), such
as a landing webpage of a merchant website. For example, the
redirect request may request the merchant webpage from merchant
servers and the merchant webpage may be provided to the browser
from the merchant servers. Next, code for a redemption header may
be inserted into the merchant webpage (block 610), and this
redemption header code may be executed by the browser during
loading of the merchant webpage. In some embodiments, the
redemption header code may include JavaScript.TM. and may be
inserted as a HTML <script> tag. In such embodiments, the
redemption header code may be inserted asynchronously via
JavaScript.TM. provided by the offers engine 12, such as
JavaScript.TM. provided in the offers website having the selectable
offer. As described above, in some embodiments the offers engine 12
may include a content delivery network (CDN), and the redemption
header code and other static content associated with the redemption
header may be served via the CDN. Additionally, the size of the
redemption header code may be minimized or reduced to optimize or
improve the transmission and loading time of the redemption header
code.
[0098] Next, a webpage element for the redemption header may be
created in the merchant webpage (block 612), such as in a document
object model (DOM) associated with the merchant webpage. For
example, in some embodiments an inline frame may be created via the
HTML <iframe> tag. In such embodiments, the redemption header
code may load content from the offers engine 12 within the inline
frame. Additionally, the redemption header code may use a
relatively unique namespace to avoid conflicts with other elements.
Thus, in some embodiments, nodes or other elements inserted into
the DOM of a merchant webpage may be associated with a unique
namespace to eliminate conflicts with existing elements. The
process 600 continues in FIG. 6B, as shown by connector block
A.
[0099] FIG. 6B further depicts the process 600 for generating a
redemption header in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. As shown in FIG. 6B, after creating a webpage element
for the redemption header (block 612), a request for the redemption
header may be received (block 614), such as from the redemption
header code inserted into the merchant webpage. In some
embodiments, any parameters provided in the request may be encoded.
Next, the existence of the offer identifier in the cookie or other
browser-accessible storage item may be determined (decision block
616). If the offer identifier is stored (line 618), then the offer
identifier associated with the selected offer may be read (block
620). In contrast, if the offer identifier is not stored (line
622), then an empty webpage element may be provided, e.g., no
content is provided for display in the webpage elements (block
624). In other embodiments, a message may be provided to remove the
webpage element (e.g., an inline frame) created for the redemption
header. Accordingly, the redemption header may not be included in
the merchant webpage (and is not displayed by the browser).
[0100] After reading the offer identifier, the requester of the
redemption header may be compared to an expected domain to
determine if the requester matches the expected domain (block 628).
For example, the domain of the merchant website requesting the
redemption header may be compared to the expected merchant domain
associated with the offer identifier for the offer. If there is a
match between the requester and the expected domain (line 630),
then the redemption header may be provided to the browser (block
632). As described above, the providing may include providing
images, text, and other components that form the redemption header
to the browser. In some embodiments, the static content such as
images and text associated with the redemption header may be
provided from a CDN (e.g., a CDN having a cookieless domain) and
may be compressed to optimize transmission and loading time.
Additionally, in some embodiments, the size and number of content
associated with the redemption header may be minimized to
facilitate faster transmission and loading time.
[0101] The redemption header may be then be displayed by the
browser in the webpage element created for the redemption header
(block 634). As discussed above, the redemption header may be
displayed in the merchant webpage, such as in a header portion of
the merchant webpage. If there is not a match between the requester
and the expected domain (line 636), then an empty webpage element
may be provided (block 624) and no redemption header is included in
the merchant webpage.
[0102] As described above, after the redemption header is provided,
a user may select the close control to remove the redemption header
from the merchant webpage. In such embodiments, a message may be
asynchronously provided to remove the redemption header (and the
associated webpage element) from the merchant webpage and to remove
the browser-accessible storage item. The redemption header may
remain removed from the merchant webpage until the user returns to
the offers webpage and selects a new offer.
[0103] In other embodiments, the merchant website may be provided
in an inline frame of the offers website provided by the offers
engine 12. For example, when a user selects an offer, the offers
website may load another webpage having the redemption header. A
merchant webpage may then be asynchronously loaded in an inline
frame of the webpage, such that the redemption header 446 is still
visually displayed with the merchant webpage. In such embodiments,
the user may interact with the merchant website and redemption
header in the manner described above. Additionally merchant
webpages may be loaded in the inline frame, and the redemption
header may remain on the webpage as the user navigates the merchant
website.
[0104] FIG. 7 depicts of a computer 700 in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. Various sections of systems
and computer-implemented methods described herein, may include or
be executed on one or more computers similar to computer 700.
Further, processes and modules described herein may be executed by
one or more processing systems similar to that of computer 700. The
computer 700 may include various internal and external components
that contribute to the function of the device and which may allow
the computer 700 to function in accordance with the techniques
discussed herein. It should further be noted that FIG. 7 depicts
merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended
to illustrate the types of components and functionalities that may
be present in computer 700.
[0105] Computer 700 may include any combination of devices or
software that may perform or otherwise provide for the performance
of the techniques described herein. For example, computer 700 may
include a tablet, a mobile phone, such as a smartphone, a video
game device, and other hand-held networked computing devices, a
desktop user device, a server, or other computing devices. Computer
700 may also be connected to other devices that are not
illustrated, or may operate as a stand-alone system. In addition,
the functionality provided by the illustrated components may in
some embodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in
additional components. Similarly, in some embodiments, the
functionality of some of the illustrated components may not be
provided or other additional functionality may be available.
[0106] In addition, the computer 700 may allow a user to connect to
and communicate through a network (e.g., the Internet, a local area
network, a wide area network, etc.) and may provide communication
over a satellite-based positioning system (e.g., GPS). For example,
the computer 700 may allow a user to communicate using e-mail, text
messaging, instant messaging, or using other forms of electronic
communication, and may allow a user to obtain the location of the
device from the satellite-based positioning system, such as the
location on an interactive map.
[0107] As shown in FIG. 7, the computer 700 may include a processor
702 (e.g., one or more processors) coupled to a memory 704, a
display 706, and a network interface 708 via an interface 710. It
should be appreciated the computer 700 may include other components
not shown in FIG. 7, such as a power source (e.g., a battery), I/O
ports, expansion card interfaces, hardware buttons, etc. In some
embodiments, the display 706 may include a liquid crystal display
(LCD) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. The
display 706 may display a user interface (e.g., a graphical user
interface), and may also display various function and system
indicators to provide feedback to a user, such as power status,
call status, memory status, etc. These indicators may be in
incorporated into the user interface displayed on the display 706.
In accordance with some embodiments, the display 706 may include or
be provided in conjunction with touch sensitive elements through
which a user may interact with the user interface. Such a
touch-sensitive display may be referred to as a "touchscreen" and
may also be referred to as a touch-sensitive display. In such
embodiments, the display 706 may include a capacitive touchscreen,
a resistive touchscreen, or any other suitable touchscreen
technology.
[0108] The processor 702 may provide the processing capability
required to execute the operating system, programs, user interface,
and any functions of the computer 700. The processor 702 may
include one or more processors that may include "general-purpose"
microprocessors and special purpose microprocessors, such as one or
more reduced instruction set (RISC) processors, such as those
implementing the Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) instruction set.
Additionally, the processor 702 may include single-core processors
and multicore processors and may include graphics processors, video
processors, and related chip sets. A processor may receive
instructions and data from a memory (e.g., system memory 704).
Processes, such as those described herein may be performed by one
or more programmable processors executing computer code to perform
functions by operating on input data and generating corresponding
output.
[0109] The memory 704 (which may include tangible non-transitory
computer readable storage mediums) may include volatile memory and
non-volatile memory accessible by the processor 702 and other
components of the computer 700. The memory 704 may include volatile
memory, such as random access memory (RAM), and non-volatile
memory, such as ROM, flash memory, a hard drive, any other suitable
optical, magnetic, or solid-state storage medium, or a combination
thereof. The memory 704 may store a variety of information and may
be used for a variety of purposes. For example, the memory 704 may
store executable code, such as the firmware for the computer 700,
an operating system for the computer 700, and any other programs.
The executable computer code may include instructions executable by
a processor, such as processor 702, and the computer may include
instructions for implementing one or more techniques described
herein with regard to various processes. For example, the memory
704 may store an application 712. For example, if the computer 700
represents a user device, the application 712 may include a web
browser and may enable a user to view offers, such as online
coupons, and select and redeem online coupons using the user
actions described above. In other embodiments, for example, the
computer 700 may represent a server and the application 712 may
implement some or all of the processes described above in FIGS. 5,
6A and 6B. The executable code may be written in a programming
language, including compiled or interpreted languages, or
declarative or procedural language, and may be composed into a unit
suitable for use in a computing environment, including as a
stand-alone program, a module, a component, a subroutine. Such code
program may be stored in a section of a file that holds other
programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup
language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in
question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store
one or more modules, sub programs, or sections of code).
Additionally, the copies of the executable code may be stored in
both non-volatile and volatile memories, such as in a non-volatile
memory for long-term storage and a volatile memory during execution
of the code.
[0110] The interface 710 may include multiple interfaces and may
couple various components of the computer 700 to the processor 702
and memory 704. In some embodiments, the interface 710, the
processor 702, memory 704, and one or more other components of the
computer 700 may be implemented on a single chip, such as a
system-on-a-chip (SOC). In other embodiments, these components,
their functionalities, or both may be implemented on separate
chips. The interface 710 may be configured to coordinate I/O
traffic between processor 702, memory 704, network interface 706,
and other internal and external components of the computer 700. The
interface 710 may include functionality for interfacing via various
types of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral
Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard, the Universal Serial Bus
(USB) standard, and the like.
[0111] The computer 700 depicted in FIG. 7 also includes a network
interface 708, such as a wired network interface, wireless (e.g.,
radio frequency) receivers, etc. For example, the network interface
708 may receive and send electromagnetic signals and communicate
with communications networks and other communications devices via
the electromagnetic signals. The network interface 708 may include
known circuitry for performing these functions, including an
antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,
one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC
chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so
forth. The network interface 704 may communicate with networks
(e.g., network XXX), such as the Internet, an intranet, a cellular
telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN), a
metropolitan area network (MAN), or other devices by wireless
communication. The network interface 708 may suitable any suitable
communications standard, protocol and technology, including
Ethernet, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced
Data GSM Environment (EDGE), a 4G network (e.g., based upon the
IMT-2000 standard), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),
wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division
multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), a 4G
network (e.g., IMT Advanced, Long-Term Evolution Advanced (LTE
Advanced), etc.), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE
702.11a, IEEE 702.11b, IEEE 702.11g or IEEE 702.11n), voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g.,
Internet message access protocol (IMAP) or post office protocol
(POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence
protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging
and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and
Presence Service (IMPS)), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Short
Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication
protocol.
[0112] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while
various items are illustrated as being stored in memory or on
storage while being used, these items or sections of them may be
transferred between memory and other storage devices for purposes
of memory management and data integrity. Alternatively, in other
embodiments some or all of the software components may execute in
memory on another device and communicate with the illustrated
computer system via inter-computer communication. Some or all of
the system components or data structures may also be stored (e.g.,
as instructions or structured data) on a computer-readable medium
or a portable article to be read by an appropriate drive, various
examples of which are described above. In some embodiments,
instructions stored on a computer-readable medium separate from
computer 700 may be transmitted to computer 700 via transmission
media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital
signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network or a
wireless link. Various embodiments may further include receiving,
sending or storing instructions or data implemented in accordance
with the foregoing description upon a computer-accessible medium.
Accordingly, the present invention may be practiced with other
computer system configurations.
[0113] Various embodiments may further include receiving, sending
or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordance with
the foregoing description upon a computer-accessible medium.
Generally speaking, a computer-accessible/readable storage medium
may include a non-transitory storage media such as magnetic or
optical media, (e.g., disk or DVD/CD-ROM), volatile or non-volatile
media such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc.,
as well as transmission media or signals such as electrical,
electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication
medium such as network and/or a wireless link.
[0114] Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various
aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the
art in view of this description. Accordingly, this description is
to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of
teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying
out the invention. It is to be understood that the forms of the
invention shown and described herein are to be taken as examples of
embodiments. Elements and materials may be substituted for those
illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be
reversed or omitted, and certain features of the invention may be
utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in
the art after having the benefit of this description of the
invention. Changes may be made in the elements described herein
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as
described in the following claims. Headings used herein are for
organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit
the scope of the description.
[0115] As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used
in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to),
rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). The words
"include", "including", and "includes" mean including, but not
limited to. As used throughout this application, the singular forms
"a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the content
clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "an
element" includes a combination of two or more elements. Unless
specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussion, it
is appreciated that throughout this specification discussions
utilizing terms such as "processing", "computing", "calculating",
"determining" or the like refer to actions or processes of a
specific apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or a similar
special purpose electronic processing/computing device. In the
context of this specification, a special purpose computer or a
similar special purpose electronic processing/computing device is
capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically
represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within
memories, registers, or other information storage devices,
transmission devices, or display devices of the special purpose
computer or similar special purpose electronic processing/computing
device.
* * * * *